Somebody That I Used To Know
by Cuppa Char
Summary: Mike becomes an over-emotional fixture to Harvey's couch.
1. Chapter 1

_**Somebody That I Used To Know**_

Formally known as _**The One Where Harvey Slaps Mike**_  
_... but that's a moot point, really [AKA: That One Time Mike Was Hysterically Insane With Shock]_

A/N: just a fic dump. Title taken from **Gotye**'s song of the same name (a glorious song that I think will torment Mike for the rest of his life).

From suits-meme prompt asking for a fic where Harvey slaps Mike. I think the general agreement from people who responded was that Harvey would only do this if Mike was in shock or something. I only intended to do a small one-shot but it's kind of snow-balled into a plot of sorts (and another reason to emotionally whump Mike). This is actually nearly finished – I probably have one last chapter to write, so don't worry I haven't abandoned teen-slash-mini!Mike or any of the other fics I have started and not yet finished. I just have my hand in many pies at the moment.

Also... yes, there's a heap-load of angst and tears and Harvey's very tactile in his comforting, but this is because Mike is _**insane with shock **_and Mike!whump is my forte, so apologies for the emotional up-chuck that I might put you though.

Disclaimer: The characters or Suits do not belong to me. No infringement intended.

xxx

Shock wasn't the first thing he'd experienced.

You'd think it would be, but it wasn't.

Instead he'd gone into a rage and ripped his apartment to pieces.

He'd swiped the contents from his messy coffee table.

Tipped his bookcase with brute force, books and paper fluttering in their fall.

He'd destroyed inanimate objects including his coffee pot (so, thanks O' terrible, soul-destroying start to the day) and one of the few photo's of his parents.

That, in itself, gives him pause for thought and he comes to a crashing halt, breathing rapidly, chest heaving up and down.

"Mike?" It was said so quietly that he nearly jumps right of his skin. He vaguely remembers that same soft voice repeating his name like a mantra, dull and faint against the blood rushing in his ears.  
_  
"Mike!"_

"Stop! You're going to hurt yourself."

"Please. You're scaring me."

Jenny. It was Jenny. She looks absolutely terrified stood in the middle of the carnage.

She'd stayed the night and had opened the door to a early hour visitor who nearly stopped his heart on sight. It had barely passed 7:00 am. They had listened, Mike silent and unbelieving and then angry, throwing the man out, who'd become a stranger in Mike's eyes, and Jenny had stood back as Hurricane Mike had flown through his apartment.

"Mike?" she tries again.

He fled...

xxx

Jenny had barely kept up with Mike and eventually lost him.

She made an educated guess at where he might be heading. After what they had learned this morning, there could be only one place he'd go.

The nurse on receptionist duty showed a faint recognition when she arrived, slightly off breath and a tad-dishevelled. She hadn't been to visit in a while now, not since she was with Trevor.

"Hi," she tells the receptionist, hand drumming against the counter. "I know it's early, but I was wondering if Mike Ross has been in. I really need to see him-"

"Sure," The nurse said with a effortless smile. "He came by around five minutes ago. I normally don't make a habit of letting visitors through till the official times, but he's a regular and appeared upset, so I let him."

"Oh, good-" Jenny breathes with relief and then points with her hand. "Do you mind if I...?"

"Go ahead, but make it quick."

Jenny finds the room quite quickly – not because she's in the same room (in fact she's moved two rooms down) but because of the two nurses who are standing worriedly in the hall and the ugly raised tone that is buffeting out through the door.

Jenny barges in with no grace at all.

Grammy Ross is sitting straight up. Her face is flushed and there's a look of distress – hell, she looks distraught – across her face. There's blatant tears that are rapidly falling.

"Is it true?" Mike harshly asks.

Grammy looks away for a second before turning reluctant wet eyes back and nods.

"I'm sorry."

She makes an effort to reach out a quivering arm but Mike snatches his hand out of reach and takes a step back.

"How could you?" Mike whispers it. He sounds completely devastated and Jenny steps into the gap and tries to squeeze his hand reassuringly. He doesn't acknowledge her, but pulls out of her glancing touch with a contorted face as though his universe has been ripped apart.

It has.

"Michael-" His grandmother warns. She's trying to pull back the covers and move from the bed but ends up struggling in the folds. "Please, you have to listen to me. I never condoned it. I was never part of it. I found out after."

"But you went along with it?"

"What choice did I have?"

"YOU COULD HAVE TOLD ME!" The force of it stuns her and she feels trapped by it, pushed back as though it was Mike Against The World.

"Mike-" she tries to soothe. "Please let me explain, sweetheart-"

Mike's shaking his head and backs up further and the older woman is pale and tilting, desperately trying to fight herself free from the sheets. And Jenny is caught between them – wanting to inch herself closer to her edgy friend but not wanting to leave Grammy's obvious plight.

Mike makes a noise like a wounded animal and then hightails it out of the room and Jenny has a whole second of hesitation before turning back to the old lady and stalling her fall.

The two nurses from before file in quickly and usher her away.

Grammy fights them like a woman possessed before directing her stare to her.

"Go after him," she says though an oxygen mask.

Jenny hesitates a second longer.

"Please."

She nods and then rushes off to try and find him but by the time she makes it outside Mike has long gone.

xxx

Donna is at her desk when she becomes aware of a problem brewing – of the associate kind.

Rachel has appeared with her arm resting on a blonde woman's elbow and they're are heading in the direction of her desk. Donna recognises the girl – Jenny something – from the mock trial so instantly knows this is Mike's friend and therefore to do with Mike.

Mike, it appears, is responsible for the mess that Harvey, Louis and Jessica were now in and by the look of it, the trouble didn't appear to be just in the office.

The firm had recently taken on a new client who brought in big bucks and several well earning clients. The client in question – Theodore Crane – had insisted on the best. Harvey and Louis had, naturally, both considered their respective selves as being the best. Jessica, rather predictably, told them to work together much to both their chagrin.

Mike had been given strict instructions to be early for work today as he had been tasked with meeting and greeting the client, going over some preliminary paperwork and being a general hospitable connoisseur.

They'd only been made aware that Mike had not only failed to meet the client but hadn't shown at all when reception had called to say they had a irate client who wanted _'the most senior person down here, like now, or he's walking.'_

Louis was, naturally, preening about Harvey's ineptitude (because Louis equated this to being a bad mentor and therefore the inferior of the two) and Jessica fumed at Harvey for Mike's no-show. Donna could see that Harvey was fuming too, only in the silent-twitchy-brooding way he did when he was pissed at someone he obviously didn't want to be. Of course, it didn't help that Mike hadn't answered any of the calls she, herself, made or the countless rapid fire texts and answer phone messages Harvey had left while Jessica went to smooth things over.

They – Harvey, Louis and Jessica – were still presently trying to smooth things over now, in the conference room, but instead of the planned meeting of general law talk and winning smiles it became a convoluted way of winning him back.

Donna raises from her desk before Rachel or Jenny reach her.

"Is something wrong?" she asks.

"Hi Donna," Rachel answers with an apologetic smile and gestures with her free hand to the blonde. "Jenny was looking for Mike but I told her I didn't think he was in yet. Is he coming in today?"

"Uh..." Donna says with a wave and looks at the girl suspiciously as though she expected her to break into horrendous tears. "He's supposed to be here. Maybe something came up?"

"Oh god," Jenny declares and paces a little. Both Donna and Rachel look at each other with worried frowns and Rachel shrugs a little. Jenny palms her phone in her hand then pushes it to the side of her face. "Mike? Please, just call me back. Okay? Or just answer your phone the next time."

Jenny sounds freaked.

"What's happened?" she asks her, keeping her voice steady and low.

"Oh," Jenny says and stills her pacing a little. She turns worried eyes in her direction and looks around wearily. "I'm not sure I can tell you... but Mike found something out this morning and flipped out. He totally trashed his apartment. I've never seen him like that before."

Donna and Rachel exchange a look of surprise. Donna doesn't know what Mike 'found out' but she knows aggressive flip outs are out of character.

"He even shouted at his grandmother. Then he took off. I hoped he'd be here," Jenny continues and worries her lip between her teeth. "I really hope he hasn't done anything stupid."

Over Jenny and Rachel's shoulder Donna can see the conference room door opening and the three lawyers emerge with their client.

Donna moves from behind her desk quickly and ushers the two in the opposite direction. Mike's already in a heap-load of steaming trouble (that Harvey will no less clear up) and she doesn't think a near-hysterical friend will help calm things down with the head of the firm.

"Okay," she says calmly and nods at Rachel who looks over shoulder at the four, who have yet to notice the scene brewing. "Here's what's going to happen. Rachel's going to take you to the break room for a coffee. You've obviously had a shock."

Jenny nods dumbly and lets Rachel steer her away.

Donna hooks Rachel's arm and whispers "Try and find out what happened. I'm trying to save Mike's job here."

It's only partly true – she was sure Louis would very happily fire him on the spot and judging by Jessica's earlier reaction, she probably wouldn't mind – but she knew Harvey would never let it get that far.

The clients gone by the time she turns back and Rachel and Jenny are just disappearing around the corner when Harvey, Louis and Jessica reach her desk.

"Any news on Mike?" Harvey asks her.

"Yeah... about that-" Donna says with a tilt to her head. She hopes Harvey gets the significance – it was supposed to be her universal sign for _'All is not well. Lose the audience.'_ "I haven't actually spoken to him, but I did speak to his friend Jenny-"

"See, this is what I am on about, Jessica" Louis sneers, interrupting Donna. "Mike is tardy. And now unreliable too."

"I wouldn't worry too much, Louis," Harvey interjects, evidence of annoyance marring his tone. "He's probably still with your wife."

Louis mouth turns up in disgust.

"I'm kind of creeped out more than usual."

"I'm kind of creeped out by the fact that you're creeped out 'cause that means you consider the rookie more feasible than me and your wife."

"Whatever, Harvey-" Louis says, rolling his eyes and waving him off. "I still don't have a-"

"I know," Harvey says with a grin. "But it's still funny."

"I think we have a better things to do than discuss your associate, don't you?"

"Harvey," Donna says with a low voice and pulls Harvey's attention back. If the tilt didn't do it, the tone definitely did.

"Jenny?..." he asks, focused on her intently although she can see the mental process as he tries to identify the face to the name.

"The blonde from the mock trial... Mike's friend," Donna tells him. She purposely keeps her voice low and hushed, so it's between them, Louis and Jessica just far enough away to not hear her. Harvey nods at the visual reminder. "Rachel's currently in the break room with her. She's trying to find out what happened but apparently 'something' occurred this morning and he flipped out – like a hulk-out type of one – and it was bad enough for him to go and shout at his grandmother."

Harvey's eyes actually widened at that but before he could speak or Donna could continue Jessica interrupts them.

"As much as I hate to say this in front of him," Jessica says, evidence of her temper still present. "But Louis is right. We have a lot to do with Crane's case."

"Oh, look, Harvey-" Louis declares with a triumphant gloat. "Mommy sided with me."

Donna can't actually believe Louis said that out loud in front of Jessica and Louis only realises his mistake (_'Am I the mom in this scenario?'_) once Jessica turns her steely glare on him.

There's no time for further reprimands though. Donna looks over Jessica and Louis' shoulder and lets out a gasp. Because Mike's there.

And he looks like a hot mess.

xxx


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: See chapter 1

**Chapter 2**

Mike looks a mess.

He has a bad case of bed-head hair. His shirt is only half tucked in to his pants, one side hanging down in rumpled creases, as though he'd been disturbed halfway through getting dressed.

That's not first thing Harvey notices. It's the fact that the kid looks openly distressed.

"Harvey," Mike says, almost pleads and then strides forward with an intense intent as though no one was present apart from the two of them. His voice sounds cracked and weak and Harvey instantly knows that whatever happened is bad enough to derail the young associate and he straightens up from Donna's desk and faces him full on, searching him for obvious answers.

Both Louis and Jessica part like the red sea, allowing Mike through, anger and jubilation ebbing away to show down-right concern. Louis showing concern for anyone apart from himself or the firm meant Mike's little melt-down was coming across as bad and worrisome, which only worried him further.

"Mike?" Harvey asks. Mike comes to an abrupt stop in front of him and Harvey becomes acutely aware that the kid's already moist eyes suddenly spill over and leave a messy damp track down his cheek. Harvey's worry rapidly turns to alarm and he steps closer to him as Mike waves his hand around a little and mumbles something incoherently against his lips. "Hey, kid, what's wrong?"

Mike's little ramble gets louder, more audible and he lets out a squawk of hysterical laughter before waving his hand around between them incredulously. "He came to my place. I mean it can't be true, Harvey. It shouldn't be true. But she told me it was. It can't be, but it is. I was so mad at her that I shouted... Oh god."

Mike clutches a hand against his chest, right over where his heart should be and bends a little. He looks ready to drop.

"Oh god, oh shit-" Mike repeats, voice ricocheting up the panic scale. The hand not against his chest snags against the bottom of Harvey's jacket and twists. "Harvey, _please._"

Harvey has no clue what Mike is asking from him but he's propelled into action because the puppy is a babbling mess of distress. He snakes a arm up and around Mike's smaller frame and pulls him close so that he can steer him in the direction he wanted (the office).

"Okay," Harvey breathes as Mike falls back into the same litany from before, quieter this time, and sees Donna's wide eyed and equal look of distress. "Okay. Just take it easy, kid."

He walks closer to his office, feeling the blatant shaking trembling throughout his associate, Mike not once releasing his death-hold on his once-before immaculate jacket. Once by the door, he glances at Mike, who's back to waving his hand around in gesticulated mannerisms and mumbling to himself, and then back at the trio staring after them.

"I need some alone time with Mike,"he tells them. He knows Donna will take this for what it means _('so, scram already.')_Donna nods and he sees her discreetly (but not to him, because he knows her every move) turn her intercom off before she gets up and ushers Jessica (who suddenly wants to talk about Donna's skirt) and Louis away (who has no choice at all in the matter).

xxx

Harvey tries to push Mike on to his couch but the kid resists, twisting Harvey's jacket between his tense fingers. He is still rambling to himself, eyes wide and panic filled, an air of hysteria filling the space up between them.

"Kid, I know my suits are above your pay grade," Harvey tries to break the ice. "But can you refrain from abusing them? This is one of the good ones."

_Ha!_As if he actually had any bad ones.

Mike doesn't seem to register Harvey's attempt at humor and continues to babble, voice hitching, then breaking, before falling to a whisper.

"Mike, tell me what's wrong?" Harvey tries again.

He's never seen the kid like this before, so out of it and on the verge of some break down in the middle of his office. Mike, it appears, seems to be on another level of the various Mike Ross' he has seen before and apart from when he had turned up only a few minutes before - eyes locking on him and saying his name as though he was begging for some sort of reprieve - he hasn't actually acknowledged his presence since.

"Mike?" he prods again when it becomes obvious Mike's not actually going to answer. He gives him a little shake with a subtle squeeze to the shoulders that causes Mike to squeak and whimper a little. Harvey's eyes are drawn to the way his lips quiver and wobble.

"I... he... I..." Mike tries to get out to no affect at all because it's pretty obvious the kid can't get a breath in between the hyperventilated words. "Oh, god. _Harvey_."

Harvey's not sure if it's the way the kid exaggeratedly tugs at the hem of his jacket or the way Mike clearly is one word away from passing out in his arms that makes him step back and strike the kid across the cheek with his open palm.

Okay, so if anyone asks, he'd say it was because Mike was committing crimes against well-tailored suits but in truth it was because Harvey needs the kid firing on all cylinders. He needs rational and calm Mike, or at least a Mike he could work with. He didn't like this version and it wasn't just because it required Harvey to be somewhat caring and touchy and all that crap.

It has a desired effect almost immediately.

Mike shuts up, mouth opened in startled surprise, and releases his Vulcan death grip to his suit. The jumbled hysterical words were gone and in its place was an open vulnerability that chilled Harvey to the core. For a second Harvey thought the kid was going to cry - which would have been funny if it had only been a passing thought until the kid got a hold of himself - but the solitary tear from before was soon replaced with multiple hot tears that filled his eyes and spilled over as his face crumpled with what ever monstrous weight he was carrying.

Harvey had seen many sides of Mike before now, but only glimpses of the vulnerability that now encompassed his associate. He'd forgotten how young Mike actually was. So, yeah, he was 26 - not actually a boy, but Mike had to grow up fast and it had in affect, meant that there were parts of Mike's life that he'd been stalled - what it meant to be a child, to be a dependent, to be innocent and vulnerable. Harvey knew that Mike was all of these and yet also none of them. Or he hadn't been able to afford to.

And here he was now. Open and exposed. A bleeding heart and tears to go along with it.

"Oh," Mike says, sucking in his lip, breath more evened. Despite the tears that remained leaking out of his eyes, the crumpled face, and the way his voice choked on the words, Harvey recognises the rationality to Mike's tone. "I'm sorry."

Harvey actually rolls his eyes at that and shakes his head.

"It's okay. I'm sorry I had to do that," Harvey reassures him. Mike may have let go of his jacket but Harvey's hands remain firmly on both of Mike's shoulders. He lowers his gaze and forces Mike to look him in the eye. "Are you with me now?"

Mike shakes his head and then nods with a shrug and Harvey manages to get in a off-kilter grin before another round of hot tears fall from the kid's eyes.

"Oh, shit," Mike says, face flushing in mortification. He ends up burying his face into his hands and Harvey hears a muffled - "Stop being nice to me."

Harvey does manage another eye roll at that because Harvey doesn't consider anything he does as being _'nice'_ but on Mike's scale of _not nice_ to _caring_he could see this being somewhere in the middle of it.

"Hey -" Harvey starts to say and then gives up, pulling the younger man by the shoulders into his side. Mike stiffens once before letting his body fall, seemingly melting into his side. "C'mere, kid."

It wasn't a hug, per-se, more of a semi-hug but it was as far as he was willing to go (although for the briefest of seconds, with Mike's distress literally weeping out of him and slapping him in the face like a wet fish, he had considered going for an all out hug) but he was sure both Mike and Donna would say otherwise.

He checks just to make sure that Donna wasn't back, with her feet on the desk and eating her way through a tub of popcorn, or a camera at the ready. When he was satisfied she wasn't he looked down at the younger man who's buried his face into Harvey's suit, hiding from the world's scrutiny. The only scrutiny he'd have to worry about now was Harvey, though, and he wasn't going to let this one go without some answers.

"Are you ready to tell me what this is all about?"

Mike coughs and nods against him.

Harvey pulls back to study the kid who looks startled at the sudden release. He looks up at him with big watery blue eyes shining with the wetness.

"Here," Harvey says, walking him backwards a few steps until he could push the younger man into the couch behind him. "Sit down."

Mike immediately drops, and without Harvey's chest to shield him from further scrutiny, buries his face back into his hands.

"Hey," Harvey says, sitting on the coffee table in front of him. He catches one of Mike's hands in his own and tugs, trying to see his face. "What's this about, kid?"

He manages to wrangle a hand away and Mike pulls the other back in defeat, blinking at him, as he tries to suck in a breath.

"I... it's..." Mike tries again. Harvey can see, since the slap, Mike seems calmer. In a defeated and bewildered way but he catches the way his tone changes, how his breath speeds up with simple words as panic tries to seize him again.

"Slow and easy breaths, Mike-" Harvey informs him. He keeps his voice purposely low and steady. He releases Mike's hand because anything longer than two or three seconds is touching on weird, but their knees are just a breath apart from each other. "Even you can manage that."

Mike gives him a sour look and Harvey can't help but give him a a quirk of his lips. He gives him a nudge of his knee with his own. "Try again, kid."

Mike, diverting his eyes to stare intently at the floor, takes another breath, sucked in between his lips that tremble and quiver tightly as though he's only now just realised he'd been crying hysterically in front of him. Harvey should be the one mortified, however, considering his associate has managed to trigger some sort intrinsic emotion (and he can feel himself choking just thinking about it) that in turn had actually compelled him into a reaction.

Harvey half expects, seeing how Mike now looks incredibly awkward and red-faced, to shake his head and laugh it off, apologise profusely and run, but there's still a level of shakiness that keeps the kid rooted to the spot and Harvey catches the way he rubs his palms nervously against the side of his pants.

Mike sucks in another breath before talking in a quiet voice. It was controlled in a way that probably meant Mike was terrified he might still lose it.

"I was getting ready for work. I would have been early-"

Harvey snorts at that because despite the fact that the kid was a hysterical mess only a few minutes before, he might as well keep his part of the interaction as normal as possible – he needs the kid to be able to talk to him and that probably wont happen if he realises just how freaked out he was at seeing how unravelled Mike had become.

Mike looks mildly offended.

"On time then. Satisfied?"

"Not really, but it's a start," Harvey says, with a nudge. "What happened then?"

"I was only half-dressed and there -" Mike pauses and gulps. He rubs at his throat as though it hurt him to speak. Harvey has the urge to grab at it again and fold it between them but he alone had already agreed that wasn't an option. "- there was a knock at the door."

Mike stills for too long and gulps again. The redness has faded leaving a pale and pasty face and Harvey wonders if the kid might hurl what little food he has in him on his shiny and buffed designer shoes. He very discreetly tugs them back and tucks them under the table.

"I asked Jenny to get it for me," Mike continues. It comes out in a rush, thick with panic and fear and conflicted confusion. He watches as Mike nervously flutters his fingers up and down against his pants before they suddenly twist the material in such a painful and intense way that skin must have been pulled along with it and Harvey thinks _god-dammit_before finding himself reluctantly catching the wrist attached to the hand in his own, fingers wrapping around it. He could feel the pulse thumping wildly against his fingers. "- and he was..."

Mike stops and terrified eyes lock on him again.

_Harvey. Please._

"Who?" Harvey asks, clearly confused. "Trevor?"

It triggers some response out of him because Mike's suddenly laughing – chuckling to himself – in a clear tense and hysterical way before sobering up and shaking his head. "No, not Trevor. I swear, Harvey."

Harvey nods then, only now he's even more worried. He really had hoped it was Trevor (because that he could deal with) but deep down he knew it wouldn't be. As much as Trevor was an anchor he never thought in a million years he'd work Mike up into this level of hysteria. Which meant Harvey was working with a completely unknown threat.

"Not Trevor," Harvey says in confirmation and squeezes Mike's wrist in reassurance, urging him to continue. He wasn't sure how long before they'd have an audience back. "So, who was it then?"

Mike wipes his free hand wearily over his face and when he looks back up Harvey can see fresh tears spill again.

"Who, Mike?" Harvey asks again, softly spoken and gently weird to his own ears. He tightens his fingers around the wrist in his hand.

Mike diverts his look again and ends up staring at his own wrist and Harvey's feels the muscles tense beneath his hand.

Harvey barely hears him.

Soft and wet and bewildered confusion.

"I thought he was dead."

"Who?" Harvey asks, eyes clouding in confusion.

"My dad. It was my dad."

xxx


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

**Chapter 3**

_Now and then I think of when we were together_

_Like when you said you felt so happy you could die_

_Told myself you were right for me_

_But felt so lonely in your company_

_But that was love and it's an ache I still remember_

_(Gotye – Somebody That I used To Know)_

xxx

Mike goes silent. His face is damp with tailored off tears and Harvey is at a loss of words for the first time in his life. From what he had learned from the limited knowledge Mike had disclosed – obviously too painful to get into – Mike's parents had died in a car crash. He had Vanessa do a back-ground check on him, when he'd first offered him a job, but she'd only gone as far back to to the knowledge that Mike had been brought up by his grandmother from an early age. Harvey hadn't thought that anything before that would have had any relevance now.

"Mike? What do..." Harvey starts to say but stops and stares at the kid's watery and stricken eyes.

"It was him, Harvey. I swear."

There's a hint of desperation to the tone and Harvey finds himself nodding in reassurance.

"I know, kid," Harvey tells him. He gives him a small quick squeeze to the wrist again. "It's just people don't usually come back from the dead."

Mike glances down, suddenly overwhelmed again and buries his face back into hands. Harvey has no choice but to let go of the wrist. He should have been relieved that Mike had terminated the contact but Harvey knew that his associate was not, in anyway, in control of his actions at this moment in time.

"I used to have these dreams," he hears Mike's voice, softly muttered. He could still detect the contortion through the thickness of it. "Mom was dead and I was... stuck in the back. I had hit my head on something. Blood kept trickling in to my eye and I was screaming. I kept kicking the back of her seat. The steering wheel column had pierced her chest. Of course, I didn't know that at the time, just that there was a lot of blood."

Mike pauses with a dry chuckle but Harvey found the account disheartening. He'd never realised how much Mike had to go through and finds himself sucking in his own lip because he didn't know what to do with the rest of his body.

"and... then my dad was there. Standing just on the other side of the car. The passenger side of the car was open. He looked a mess. All bloody. His arm looked funny..." Mike pauses again, his voice becoming more muffled and distorted. He turns the palms into fists and rolls them into his eyes. "I kept asking for him, kept asking if he was okay. Later they told me I had a head injury. That I didn't know what I was saying, but I kept asking, kept having the same dream."

Harvey can just make out Mike rolling his fists tighter into his eyes. He makes a painful moan and suddenly rocks, lurching from the seat and Harvey jumps a little as he grabs and stalls the kid half-way, pushing him back on to the seat.

"He walked away, Harvey," Mike suddenly sags and shudders, hands dropping away to reveal hot-red eyes and building tears. Harvey gives away any self-reservation he has left and abandons the coffee table to join Mike on the couch. There's no hesitation when he lifts his arm in invitation and Mike obediently sags into his side, lifting his hand and covering his face as the fresh tears join old ones. "And I screamed for him to come back. I screamed and screamed and screamed."

"I know you did," Harvey murmurs. He fixates his eyes on a random object and focuses on it. He's not known to be a sympathetic crier but Mike's turmoil seemed to be quite catching. Of course, his words also instantly told Mike he immediately believed the kid too and Mike blearily lifts his head, rubbing at his eyes and sucking his breath in a pathetic attempt at trying to tame the over-kill of emotions suddenly tainting his minimalistic office.

"They wanted me to see a shrink" Mike practically whispers. "They said I was wrong. They said it was in my head."

"But it wasn't, was it?" Harvey states. Harvey already knows it wasn't. This was Mike Ross they were talking about. Mike Ross with an eidetic super brain. Mike Ross who never forgets anything.

Mike's eyes cloud over then – hysterical shock fading away with it – and are replaced with something else entirely. Hurt, anger and clarity. "No, it wasn't."

xxx

Harvey firmly tells Mike to stay in the office (Mike looks absolutely downtrodden when he realises Harvey is going somewhere other than his desk – even if it's only for 'a few minutes' ) and he knows it's a fool-hardy decision without Donna at her desk to keep him in line.

He meets his assistant half-way between his office and the break-room.

"I was just on my way back," she tells him with a raised eyebrow. "I guessed half an hour was long enough to get the bromance hugs out of the way."

"Donna-" Harvey starts to warn her with an unusually hard tone.

"Sorry-" Donna cuts him off, resting a hand on the sleeve of his jacket. "Just the kid freaked me out and I get inappropriate when I'm thrown for a loop. Is he okay?"

Harvey shrugs and pulls at his tie, suddenly realising how restrictive it felt.

"Okay..." Donna answers and taps at his arm with her palm with a knowing nod. "Thrown for a loop. I get it."

"Where's his friend?" Harvey asks.

"Still in the break room," Donna answers, moving in front of Harvey and readjusting his tie so that it still looked professional but with enough room to breath with ease.

Donna follows him to where Jenny and Rachel are still seated.

Jenny raises from her seat, a worried frown plastered across her face.

"Is Mike okay?" she asks in a rush. "Donna told me he turned up."

"He's fine," Harvey lies to her. Donna, by now, has moved behind the two younger women to pour herself a cup of freshly brewed coffee and turns to give him a bemused look which he chooses to ignore. "He told me what happened. I just wanted to hear it from your point of view, in case he missed anything."

He politely ignores the 'in case he missed anything out during his hysteria'.

Jenny repeats the details Mike had told him, more refrained, detached and methodical and Harvey is hit, suddenly, with the realisation that Jenny has only the bare details. She really hasn't understood the significance of what she has witnessed and that also meant that Mike hasn't told her everything about his life. Instead, after realising the last 18 years of a life that might have been built on lies, it had been him Mike had gone to. Harvey's not sure what to do with that – he feels both partly proud and overwhelmed at the same time.

"Okay," Harvey states when Jenny has finished.

"Can I see him?" Jenny asks.

He could easily hand the kid over – it could be the end of the emotional up-chuck that Mike is depositing at his feet – but he's not sure he wants to. Mike appeared to only want Harvey at this moment in time (and that really wasn't Harvey being a megalomaniac) – why else turn up like he did – making a beeline for him, muttering his name as though his life depended on it, begging for something, and thus becoming a over-emotional fixture to his couch.

Harvey shakes his head and sees Donna offer him another questionable eyebrow raise.

"I've got plans with Mike," Harvey says instead. "We're going to go and speak to his grandmother."

"I can take him-" Jenny offers. "Grammy knows me."

"Oh, _right_ – because that _really_ worked the last time-" Harvey snaps at her.

Jenny flinches and he's only a tiny bit aware that it's probably not her fault but so far he's only experienced Trevor and Jenny with the past and that, to him, equated to bad times.

"Harvey..." Donna berates him softly.

"Why don't you go back to Mike's apartment in case his father turns up again," Harvey says, making an effort to make his voice sound reasonable. "We need some contact details. I take it he never got the chance to leave any before?"

Jenny looks downright disappointed.

"No," she confirms. "But I'm not sure if I want to be there by myself after seeing Mike react like that."

Harvey is pretty sure that Mike's father isn't violent – Mike never mentioned or indicated he was a violent man – but he couldn't be the nicest of men if, by Mike's own account, he'd leave his injured kid trapped in the back of a car whilst his mother lay dead. Things appeared a bit clearer now – why Mike might have chosen questionable best friends, why Mike was desperate for praise and presence, why Mike sometimes clearly made Harvey out to be a god-like creature and fed off his authoritativeness and acknowledgement like a obedient (and sometimes not so obedient) pup.

"Rachel can go with you," Harvey tells her suddenly when Donna coughs to remind him to talk.

"Oh, I don't think- I have a lot of work-" Rachel starts to object.

Harvey is aware that there's some history between Mike and Rachel but as far as he knew it was only a passing history and something that they both had moved past.

"It's for Mike-" Donna reminds her with some intricate smile and inner meaning that only the two of them understood.

Rachel still looks a little put out but thinly smiles and nods, "Okay. For Mike."

"Good, thanks. I'll clear it with Jessica," Harvey tells her and abruptly turns on his heel to head out.

"Harvey-" he hears a disgruntled voice and turns to see Donna glaring at him with her arms folded and his mask slips. Just a little. Donna's face softens and she strides forward, offering him a sympathetic smile in return. When she reaches him, she grabs at his shoulders, in a similar way to how he had held Mike in place, and turns him around, pushing him forward. "Don't worry . Tell me about it later."

xxx

He stops by Jessica's on the way back.

"Rachel's out for the rest of the day."

"Should I ask?"

"You can bill her time to me," Harvey offers instead knowing full well that babysitting your passing flame's new squeeze didn't fall into the realm of Pearson and Hardman's speciality.

"Wow! Harvey, you're taking whatever has happened seriously," Jessica says, amusement playing at her eyes. Her face changes when Harvey offers no retort and she pats at the couch in invitation. "Is your associate okay?"

"Not exactly," Harvey says with a non-committed shrug, ignoring the seat. Jessica moves on the couch, tilting her head to study him. "I need to take the rest of the morning. Maybe the afternoon as well. Mike too."

Jessica unfolds her legs, raises and moves to her desk. She folds her arms and rests her hand under her chin in contemplation. Harvey knows she has resolved to let him do whatever he needs to do, but it's their routine, their charade, and he just goes along with it.

"See, Harvey, when I said should I ask, what I actually meant was – should I _even_ have to ask?"

Harvey smiles a little, his lips quirking.

"When I get back. I promise-" Harvey tells her truthfully with no procrastination. "I just need to know what I'm dealing with first."

"Sounds ominous," Jessica tells him, voice losing the playful mentor tone.

Harvey doesn't know what to say. It could very well be.

As if sensing his worry, Jessica nods to the door as though giving him permission to leave, although Harvey took it for what it really was – Jessica was offering him her support and reassurance. If she had any concerns that Harvey wasn't capable of taking on whatever trouble Mike might be falling into she'd keep him in her office until he relented and told her everything. Harvey also knew, from personal experience, that she was handing him the reigns, the space to fully cement his mentor status and fulfil a role that he knew full well she wanted to him to step up to.

Harvey just wasn't sure he was capable of fulfilling the role that Mike wanted or needed.

xxx

When Harvey returns to the office, Mike is surprisingly still seated on the couch. He has one of Harvey's basketballs hugged tightly to his chest, chin resting on top of it, and Harvey can't but help wince at the sight.

"Come on," Harvey tells him, walking past and pulling the basketball out of his grasp. "Get up."

"What?" Mike asks, confusion marring his tone. "Why? Where are we going?"

Harvey gently places the ball back into the space available on the window ledge and turns to study the man in front of him. Mike hasn't made a move to get up yet and he looks back at him with trepidation.

Harvey walks forward briskly and sighs, grabbing at the kid's arm and forcing him up.

"We're going to see your grandmother."

xxx


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: See chapter 1

**Chapter 4**

_You get addicted to a certain kind of sadness_

_Like resignation to the end, always the end_

_(Gotye, Somebody That I used To Know)_

xxx

The relief radiating off Mike's grandmother is palpable for everyone to see.

"Mike," she says, face breaking into a relieved and warm smile.

Mike stalls in the room and folds his arms across his chest in an uninviting mood.

"Thank you," she says, turning her attention to Harvey. "Thank you for bringing him back."

Harvey nods and smiles awkwardly as Mike continues to be (un-invitingly) hostile.

Harvey tilts his head at him and points at the chair near the side of older Ross' bedside. Mike shakes his head and steps back into the furthest corner of the room, practically burying himself into the folds of the wall. It's clear Mike has no intention of taking the seat, so Harvey does, pulling it out so that it's further in the room. He'd feel awkward sitting so close to his associate's grandmother when it was clear Mike was still angry and mistrusting of her. He wants to remind Mike that he was impartial, the voice of reason, someone to buffer the situation. He couldn't do that if he was sitting on the other side of a hospital bed.

"Uh..." Harvey says, clearing his throat when Mike focuses his attention on some non de-script part of the opposite wall. "Mike turned up at the office this morning. He was quite upset, but he managed to tell me what happened."

Mrs Ross nods at him in between fleeting glances towards her grandson who appears busy burning a hole through the very same wall.

"He doesn't understand," Harvey tells her, voice soft. "I think he needs some answers."

He tries to keep his voice and tone casual and non-offending. The last thing he wants to do is offend the older lady by telling her what do. She nods at him again as her hands nervously play with the covers of her bed.

"Of course," she says, more to herself than anyone else in the room, and then takes a steadying breath before locking her eyes on Mike. "I didn't know. Not at first."

Mike glances at her and gulps. Her shifts from one foot to the other, fidgeting ever so slightly. Harvey can see the conflict in his eyes. He knows the kid wants to go to her, but there's still some innate self-preservation and anger that prevents him, keeps him rooted to the safety of the corner of the room.

"You kept asking for him," she tells them, but keeps her eyes and words solely aimed at Mike who's clearly sucking in on his lip, one arm unfolding and resting against the edge of his lip and chin, worrying it further. "Kept insisting he'd been there. The police were unsure at first – the passenger side of the door was open, they searched the surrounding area and found no traces. They thought you were just confused. That it was the head wound. The doctor's put it down to a combination of shock and a concussion but they did some further tests just to rule out a bleed on the brain, but everything came back clear. But you carried on saying it, screamed the ward down for him-"

Harvey's heart clenches at the thought of an 8 year old Mike distraught and screaming for his father. He tears his eyes from the frail woman to his associate who's now stopped fidgeting and a look of pure frozen horror sits across his face, caught in an unwanted memory.

"They wanted you to see a psychiatrist," Mike's grandmother says, clearly disturbed from seeing Mike's reaction. She shakes her head sadly and swipes at her eyes with a hand mottled with aged pigmentation and bruises. "But I didn't want that."

"Why?" Mike suddenly asks. It's the first thing he's muttered since they entered the room and sounds thick within the kid's throat.

"Because as injured as you were, you wouldn't make a mistake like that," she tells him honestly. It's pained and slightly bitter. Harvey really hopes it's aimed at Mike's father and not the kid. "You knew exactly what he was wearing. I'd only given him the shirt that morning. There was no way you could have made that up."

"Blue. Checked. Three little golden stars over a breast pocket," Mike mutters softly from his corner.

His grandmother nods and wipes at her eyes again, "A perfect memory. Even then."

"So you believed me?" Mike asks her. He steps away from the safety of the corner but stops mid-way between the wall and the bed. Harvey remains towards his left.

"Always," she breathes at him and Mike takes another hesitating step towards her.

"You said you didn't know at first," Mike reminds her. He stops just short of the bottom of the bed, hand entwining around the edge of the railing. "When did you?"

His grandmother looks away for a second and then tilts her head back up at him, willing him to understand her.

"He came to the hospital a few days later," she confesses and Harvey sees the immediate tensing up of Mike's shoulders, the progress he made completely terminated. "You were asleep. He didn't want you to be wakened."

Mike lets go of the railing and trembles, face pinched and pale.

"What happened," he asks, voice torn and devastated. "Why'd he leave me?"

Harvey ignores the older lady to focus on Mike instead, torn between the fascination of Mike's raw and deep emotion being bared and horror on the kid's behalf.

"He told me he'd been thrown clear from the car," she says quietly. Harvey can tell by her tone she'd rather not disclose the gory details regarding Mike's abandonment, but despite the distress it will no doubt cause, it had to be said. "That by the time he got back to the car, your mother was already dead."

"I watched her bleed out," Mike says quietly detached.

Mrs Ross looks stricken at and tries to reach a hand out. Mike flinches again and moves back a step.

"I watched her bleed out," Mike repeats, seemingly lost in the memory. "She died and I was crying and then suddenly he was there. The moonlight gave him this glow, ya know-" Mike mutters and then cracks into a giggle. "Like a fucking a halo. Pretty ironic now, right?"

"Mike-" Harvey warns him, but his grandmother waves him off.

"Your mother was dead," she confirms. "There wasn't anything he could do for her, so he checked on you. He made sure you were okay."

"And then he left," Mike says quietly, bitter and sarcastic undertones lining his words.

"He did-" she agrees. "He turned up while you were asleep, looked beat as hell. He had a -"

"Dislocated shoulder and a gash to the head," Mike interrupts her. "I know."

"Right-" the older woman nods and glances at her grandson once again.

"So, in this spontaneous family reunion," Mike asks bitterly. " - did he tell you why he left?"

"Yes," she tells him. Mike stills again, hands forming into tight and trembling balls and despite the need for answers, Harvey wants nothing more than to grab the kid and run and shield him from any further hurtful truths. "I didn't know it at the time, but apparently your father owed some people a lot of money. He didn't say how much, but from what he was indicating, it was a lot. He was going to leave and wanted you and your mother to go with him. He said your mother refused and I got the impression that they were arguing about it in the car."

Mike looks completely dumbfounded by the revelation and Harvey can see the mental process kick in, eyes darting around, as the mental cogs kicked up a gear.

"None of this was planned, I swear," his grandmother insists as though she was reading his sudden thoughts. "He thought you were safer if he was gone, that things would be better if you stayed with me. He thought it was best if people did think he was dead. I fought him all the way, Mikey, but he still left. I'm sorry."

"What happened after? Where'd he go?" Mike asks quietly. Both he and his grandmother look worn from the conversation.

"I don't know," she says, shaking her head and wiping at fresh tears. "The next day his and your mother's joint bank account was empty and I never saw or heard from him again. Not until a few days ago."

Harvey tears his eyes from Mike and looks back at her, incredulous. Not only had his father further devastated a mourning and traumatised kid, but he'd taken any safety net mike's mother might have wanted to leave him.

"Did you tell the doctor's? The cops?" Harvey asks her. He's still trying to be impartial and the voice of reason but it's becoming increasingly hard.

Mrs Ross shakes her head.

"Why?" Mike suddenly asks, anger clearly evident in his voice now. "He let my mother die, he left me behind, he cleared us out."

The lawyer in Harvey wants to point out that his father wasn't responsible for at least one of the accusations, but he thinks the safest bet is to remain silent. Besides, Mike's father might not have been responsible, but a lot of blame could still be laid at his feet.

Mike's words and tone suddenly spark life into the older woman, anger of her own startling them both.

"Because he's my son! Because I was happy he was alive and not dead in a ditch! Because I wanted him to stay alive!"

Mike flinches at the sudden words being thrown at him and Harvey can see he's about to run again. He raises from his seat just in case.

"I didn't agree with what he did. But you were safe and he was alive somewhere and he's my son. What was I supposed to do?"

"You should have told me!" Mike says, voice rising and strained to the point that Harvey can see the veins being stretched along his associate's neck.

"I'm sorry, Mike. Please," she pleads from him. To her credit she doesn't fall into an all out hysteria, but there's a level of desperation to her that will no doubt trigger alarms from the heart monitor attached and bring in the nursing staff who were already reluctant and wary to re-allow Mike in after his earlier visit.

"Take it easy, kid-" Harvey murmurs at him, wrapping a hand around his shoulder. "Come over here and sit down for a second. Okay?"

Mike surprisingly doesn't argue or fight him off and lets him lead the way to Harvey's vacant seat, allowing himself to be lowered to the chair.

"I'm sorry," his grandmother repeats and Mike simply stares at her.

Harvey keeps his hand wrapped around the kid's shoulder and squeezes.

"Did he leave a contact number?" Harvey asks, glancing at her once before turning his attention back to Mike. He feels a bit perturbed and worried at how quiet and compliant Mike has become after his earlier outburst.

"Yes, he did-" she tells him and turns away to rummage though her bedside cabinet. Mike doesn't even flinch at the realisation that his father has left his number for him. In fact, the only way Harvey knows for sure that he hasn't checked out for good is when the kid impulsively leans the side of his face into his right shoulder, wiping a glistening eye against his rumpled shirt.

Harvey leaves Mike on the chair, who makes no move to collect it, and stops by her bed.

"Thanks," he tells her.

She catches his hand in her own and whispers furiously at him – Harvey's not sure if Mike can see or hear - "Look after him."

Harvey nods and wordlessly accepts the folded note from her hand.

"C'mon kid," Harvey tells Mike once he's back by his side. The situation doesn't seem to be resolving itself any further and Harvey doesn't want to cause either of the other two occupants of the room any more distress. "Lets go."

He ends up sliding his hand under Mike's arm and pulling him up forcibly, the younger man remaining completely still and staring. Once standing, Mike nods and immediately steps closer to Harvey . He claps his hand across Mike's back reassuringly.

"Mike?" the soft voice stops Mike mid-step before leaving the room. "I was only trying to protect you. I lost my son that day too. I don't want to lose you as well."

Mike stays silent and unmoving, letting the words sink in, before letting time start up again and he sped up with it, moving out of the room and away from Harvey.

"Give him time," Harvey tells her confidently.

She dabs at her eyes and smiles brokenly at him.

It only takes a few strides to reach Mike who's come to a stand-still in the middle of the hall and appears to be muttering to himself. Harvey steps up close to him and without hesitation lifts his arm again. Unquestionably, Mike slides under it, and it isn't until he's safely tucked there that Harvey makes out the words his associate is muttering like a litany of self-reassurance, an anchor to hope. His voice, though, disbelieving and bewildered, betrays the intention.

"He checked to see if I was okay, Harvey. He checked."

xxx

Ray's waiting for them once they're outside.

Harvey intends to take the kid back his condo for the rest of the day because it's barely three in the afternoon and kid is clearly exhausted – head plastered against the cool window of the moving car, eyes closed – but first he needs to go back to the office and set some things straight. He'd dump the drowsy associate on his couch and leave Donna to look after him while he railroaded Jessica into meeting his demands.

"Do you want to take the number?"

"No," Mike says, eyes still closed.

"Look, kid-" Harvey tries to reason. "I know you've seen and heard a lot of things today, but you might want to reconsider this someday. You haven't got any questions for him?"

"No," Mike repeats, lifting his head and glaring at him. "I don't care what you do with the number, Harvey. Keep it. Burn it. Do whatever you want with it. I'm really tired of talking about this shit, so can we drop it?"

Harvey nods, ignoring the bite to his words, and Mike drops his head back down against the window.

"Okay," Harvey tells him, folding the note and pushing it into his breast pocket. "I'm going to keep it until you decide what to do with it. Apart from that, it's really not my call."

Mike shrugs and turns his face further into the glass.

It's not until they're at least halfway back to the firm that Ray speaks from the front of the car.

"Daddy issues?"

"What?" Harvey startles, head lifting from the text he'd been firing at Donna, updating her on his instructions. He glances at the kid to see that Ray has carefully chosen his time to speak because Mike is now deeply out for the count.

"Come on, Harvey," Ray scoffs at him. He eyes Harvey in the rear-view mirror. "I might only see him every now and then but even I can see he's starved of paternal affection. He's been screaming for attention since the day you brought him home."

He rolls his eyes at Ray's obvious jab at Harvey's puppy analogy, but in this case it seems to fit the situation perfectly.

"I guess," Harvey agrees around the sudden bitter pill coating his mouth. It really must mean something if even his personal driver, who only has a fleeting acquaintance with Mike, can see it.

xxx

_But you didn't have to cut me off_

_Make out like it never happened and that we were nothing_

_And I don't even need your love_

_But you treat me like a stranger and I feel so rough_

_No you didn't have to stoop so low_

_Have your friends collect your records and then change your number_

_I guess that I don't need that though_

_Now that you're just somebody that I used to know_

_(Gotye – Somebody That I used To Know)_

A/N: So probably one chapter to go (maybe an epilogue too, but don't hold your breath.)

Also, I'm kind of ramming Gotye down your throat. But be warned, there's more lyrics to come next chapter too


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N**: so, decided that this is set after S2E1. Spoilers for She Knows. Quote (roughly paraphrased) from S1E2. Also, I was inspired by Phoenix 'reluctant to get out bed mini!mike' so I reciprocated with sleepy adult!mike reluctant to get up. But I shall try and fit in teen!mike too.

Also I know I need to update GUIHTD... I hope to do that soon.

**Disclaimer**: See chapter 1.

xxx

Harvey drops wearily onto Jessica's couch and flops. Actually flops, head hanging back with a drawn out sigh.

Jessica raises a bemused frown across her features at his sudden appearance.

"Please, Harvey, make yourself at home," she dead-pans from her desk.

Harvey raises his head and levels a stare at her. He straightens his body, readjusting his suit, before dropping his face into his hands. He can feel his fingers trembling against skin and curls them in to hide them.

He is also aware that he had just entered his superior's office without announcement or knocking. Maybe Mike was rubbing off on him.

"Okay, Harvey -" Jessica calmly tells him, a hint of concern flashing across her face. "The one and only time you came into my office without knocking first was when your father died. What's going on?"

Harvey doesn't answer at first. He'd once told Mike he didn't want to hear about his soap opera life, but here he was willingly wading into it.

And quite frankly? It was a tad overwhelming. Mike was suddenly now looking at him like he was the only one who could help him. The only one who could stop it. Harvey was... not reluctant to step in... just wary, which conflicted with the immediate and burning desire to do just that. To make things better. To stop it. To shield him from the reality of how easy it was to be burned. The latter in itself were quite a contradiction to the lawyer in him. He wasn't doing Mike any favors by protecting him from that, and yet there was still a part of the associate that was vulnerable and could wait just a bit longer. Or until Mike learned how to buffer himself from any irreversible damage.

And then there it was. When did he suddenly appoint himself that person, that buffer, the protector of this scenario?

"Harvey? Is the kid okay?" Jessica continues, voice slicing through his lost thoughts like a jolt.

"No," Harvey answered quickly and honestly.

"Where is he?"

"I left him asleep on my couch."

He drops his hands then and turns to look at her. Hands now down by his sides, he feels the shake even more. He's not sure what's more terrifying at this current moment in time – the idea that Mike might becoming emotionally attached to him or the come down of seeing how hysterical the kid had been when he'd arrived at the office earlier that morning. He hates hiding his hands in his pockets of suits because no matter what people say, pockets are not for hand holding, so he ends up fidgeting with them in his own lap instead.

Jessica takes one look at his face (which, after catching a glimpse of it in the reflection of the many glass walls on the way to her office, he can only presume looked mildly distraught) before there's a flash of alarm across her own. He's seen many looks on Jessica – angry, worried, concerned, indifferent – but never actually alarmed.

"Harvey," she murmurs, pushing out from her desk. He shook his head and waved her back before going back to study his fingers. "You really care about him, huh?"

"I worry about him," Harvey said with a shrug. "The stupid kid doesn't really have anyone to look out for him at the moment. So I worry. There's a difference."

"If you say so," Jessica's mouth twitches but he can still hear the own worry to it.

"I thought I was just picking out an associate, you know-" Harvey admits softly, thumbs rotating around each other in a rhythmic manner. Did he really think that when that someone had dropped a briefcase of pot on the floor in front of them? When that someone had already confessed that they hadn't even got a law degree and took tests for cash? "Another me. Someone to shape and learn. To develop."

"That's awfully nurturing of you."

He supposes it was.

"_When you messed up, I didn't put that on you. I put that on me. Because it's my job."_

"There's a fine line between mentoring and caring."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Harvey asks, head snapping up. "Are you saying I've overstepped boundaries?"

Jessica shakes her head.

"No, that's not what I'm saying. I'm saying that sometimes being a mentor isn't confined to the office," Jessica smiles at him with reassurance. "Sometimes being a mentor is more than law books and court etiquette. It's about life and how to navigate it. Of all people, Harvey, you should get that," she reaches out and prods him with her pen, smirking at him

Harvey gives her a quick grin in return.

"I'm proud of you, Harvey."

Despite the fact that Harvey was now a senior partner and more than an equal to Jessica Pearson, he can't but help the way his heart swells in gratitude and warmth at the words from his former mentor. It was a reminder to give the kid, seemingly starved of affection, a bit more praise.

He covers up all of his stirred emotions by confessing something else instead.

"It's just a little bit overwhelming."

"Yes it is," she replies with a nod.

Current tense, not past. He smirks at her and she shrugs in response.

"I'm not sure I can be what he needs me to be," Harvey admits, a little bit worriedly.

"Which is?" Jessica answers with genuine interest.

"A father figure?" Harvey shrugs in confusion. He lifts his head fully this time now and searches Jessica's face, and the room, for answers. "I think? If today means anything, I mean."

"Which brings me to my earlier question of the day. What happened to the kid?"

"His father."

"His father?" Jessica parrots back, nose crinkling in confusion. "I thought he was dead."

Harvey was aware that only a few months before, when Trevor had ousted Mike to Jessica, Mike had been forced to tell her the truth and in doing so had opened up to her and revealed how his parents had died.

"So did Mike."

Jessica raises her eyebrows in interest.

"He turned up at Mike's apartment. Very much alive."

Jessica's mouth drops open in genuine surprise.

"Mike's father is not dead?"

Harvey shakes his head.

"And Mike didn't know?"

Another shake.

"And...?"

"And then nothing," Harvey continues with confusion. "He became hysterical and then turned up here. The rest was history."

"No," Jessica said, shaking her head in clarification, and straightening, posture back to professional and business like. "What does this mean for Mike? Apart from the emotional trauma... legally I mean. Does he need legal advice?"

Harvey shrugs, glad for the change of direction.

"I don't know yet," Harvey confesses. "From what Mike's grandmother has told us there's no actual evidence he's done anything illegal apart from run off from a car accident that was legally deemed an accident. We don't even know if he's committed fraud."

A sudden knock at the door makes both of them jump. Louis flounces in soon after looking every inch of a creep.

"Jessica, I have some of the preliminary papers for Crane completed that Ross was supposed to have done," Louis announces, preening himself as though Harvey wasn't there. Louis places the papers neatly on Jessica's desk and then turns to give Harvey a glancing pointed look before morphing into a mock look of surprise. "Oh. Harvey, didn't see you there. You're back from your associate's breakdown I see."

Harvey grimaces on the couch, hands dropping from his lap to clench the sides of the couch either side of his legs. He can feel a growl forming in his throat.

"Louis..." Jessica starts in warning.

"What?" Louis asks with a face of innocence. He looks back and forth between the two of them, blinking stupidly before his face splits into a moronic grin. "Don't tell me that Harvey Specter is actually starting to care about someone else?"

"I don't know about that, Louis. I've always been pretty generous in bed. Especially with your wife."

He smirks at the sudden bristlesness to brush Louis face.

"That would actually be funny if-"

"Boys," Jessica snaps at them and they turn their head in unison. "So not the time."

"Okaaay," Louis says, backing up slightly trying to make a not so discreet retreat. "Room filled with mysterious and intense tension and in light of what occurred this morning this can only suggest something serious has happened."

This time both Jessica's and Harvey's head turn and look at him in annoyance.

"Aaaaand clearly I have interrupted something," Louis continues, looking like a rabbit caught in headlights. "I'll just go, shall I?"

"Louis!" Jessica snaps again. She points towards the chairs. "Sit!"

"Okay," he says quickly, finding purchase at the nearest available seat and sitting immediately. He ends up sandwiched into a solo armchair, slightly too small for his frame, looking stiff and uncomfortable. "Sitting."

"Seriously?" Harvey asks, turning a bewildered gaze back to Jessica. "You're involving him?"

"Hey," Louis interjects with a scoff. "Should I be offended?"

"Harvey..." Jessica admonishes before looking at Louis. "Mike's dead father turned up this morning."

"Oh," Louis says as though he's suddenly clued in. He raises his hand nervously. "I take it you mean he's not _actually _a zombie."

"No, Louis. He's not a zombie," Harvey mutters, rolling his eyes.

"Mike's _supposedly _dead father turned up. Alive and well," Jessica clarifies.

"Well that explains the hysteria."

Harvey ignores Louis in favor of driving home his earlier point.

"I don't even know if he needs legal representation. But If he does then I'll do it pro bono."

He hears Louis snort loudly, from his seat, which is cut off abruptly when Jessica levels a steady glare at him.

"No, Harvey," Jessica warns him, turning the steady glare on him, features softening slightly as she spoke. "You're too involved. I know what I said earlier but this is different this time."

Harvey looks at her with a glare of her own, anger flushing his face.

"Yeah, tell me you're not when the feeling to kill this guy goes away. Okay?" Jessica declares smugly, tilting her head.

He starts to open his mouth to argue but then stops and shrugs his acceptance. He still couldn't get over the fact that Mike's father had left his kid trapped in a car with his dead mother.

"I'll do it," Louis announces from his perch.

Harvey turns and studies the man.

"You don't even like the kid," Harvey exclaims in disbelief.

"I... that's not..." Louis starts in defence before he too shrugs. "I'm not completely heartless though. And I do oversee the associates. Which includes their welfare..."

"If you're so concerned with their welfare you wont ever traumatise their fragile psych with that pony speech," Harvey points out with a mock shudder.

"That pony speech is a valuable metaphor," Louis argues.

"It's creepy, is what it is."

"Louis," Jessica interrupts them with a sigh. "First of all Harvey's right; the pony speech is creepy. Secondly, thank you for offering your services. At the moment we don't know if it's needed. You'll be informed in due time. You're dismissed."

"Okay," Louis nods, looking a bit glum before making a quick exit.

Harvey watches with a triumphant grin.

"Harvey," Jessica tuts at him with a smirk before pointing to the door. "You can go too."

Harvey salutes her before stepping up and heading to the door.

"Harvey," Jessica's voice stops him at the door. "I know you'll figure it out. You'll be whatever the kids needs you to be."

xxx

Harvey finds Mike exactly where he left him; curled up on his couch in a deep sleep. Donna had already left, her god-daughter's dance recital was this evening, but not before seemingly mothering the kid to death.

There's evidence of a blanket (heaven knows where she got it from), that had at one time been over him, now pooling off his legs.

"Hey, kid-" Harvey reluctantly tells him, picking the blanket up and folding it over the back of the couch. "Time to go."

Mike doesn't respond.

"Mike, c'mon kid," Harvey tries again, jostling him gently by the arm.

"Hmm," Mike grumbles back and buries his face further into the cushion Donna has obviously pushed under his head.

"Are you awake?"

"No," Mike gristles at him, burrowing himself further down into the couch.

"Strange," Harvey comments with a grin. "I could have sworn you answered. C'mon kid, get up."

"Comfortable here," Mike huffily complains when Harvey jostles him once more. "Don't want to go. Just... leave me here. That way I'll be here when you you get in tomorrow."

"Yeah... not going to happen," Harvey says, rolling his eyes impatiently. When it was clear Mike was not going to move, Harvey nudges him with his knee. "I'm not making you go home."

"You're not?" Mike asks, moving his head so that one eye peered out from above the cushion.

"No. You're coming back to mine where I can feed you a proper meal, then you're going to have a full nights sleep," Harvey raises an eye when Mike starts to argue, body raising slightly, and only dropping it when the kid sags back in defeat. "And then we'll find some time tomorrow to see what damage your puny body did to your apartment."

"Not puny," Mike huffs out, allowing Harvey to pull him from the couch. "Just lean."

"Right," Harvey scoffs with a smirk. "Which is why Donna left me strict instructions to feed you the best ever meal you're ever going to have."

Harvey gathers the rest of his stuff up (much easier due to the fact that Mike turned up sans jacket and bag) while his associate blearily wipes the sleep from his eyes.

"You don't have to do this, you know?" Mike suddenly tells him when Harvey holds the door open for him.

"I know," Harvey replies with a small smile. "But I want to."

A huge pleased grin suddenly erupts on the kid's face and he obediently passes Harvey.

And if that huge pleased grin caused Harvey's own small one to widen with warmth? Well, who was to tell?

xxx

Mike ends up avoiding Harvey for the next couple of days. Every time Harvey passes by the associate bull-pen Mike immerses himself into the paperwork he suddenly seems buried in. Harvey takes pity on him and throws another few files for him to bury himself in further, frowning when the kid barely even flinches. He watches as the younger man neatly arranges them on top of Louis outstanding files.

Harvey pats him on the shoulder as he steps away.

"Good boy," he says with a smirk.

When he glances back he sees Mike gulping convulsively and staring at his barely touched shoulder. Harvey's not mistaken when he realises his eyes are glistening and there's a ghost of a relieved smile on his face.

Mike looks up then and blinks, realising Harvey's caught him in a vulnerable moment, so the kid just blinks at him a bit more, grins awkwardly and waves the newly acquired file at him before turning away and twirling a highlighter through his fingers.

Harvey nods and walks back to his office with a heavy heart.

xxx

It's actually later that day that something changes.

He doesn't have to look up to know that Mike's slithered into the room. Harvey knows by the lack of exuberant entry and the heavy sigh that fills the room that this wasn't a usual work catch-up.

Harvey looks up and sees Mike standing uncomfortably with a file clutched in his hand.

"You got something for me?" He asks, eyebrow raised.

Mike shuffles a bit more, fidgeting where he stands.

"The file?" Harvey asks, when it's clear Mike's lost all function.

"Huh?" Mike elegantly asks, suddenly coming alive. Harvey nods at the file in his hand and reaches a hand out. "Oh. Right. Yeah... that-"

He steps forward and hands it to him, eyes darting around the table nervously.

"Okay. What's wrong?" Harvey asks, folding his arms against his chest.

"What? Nothing," Mike answers too quickly.

Harvey raises both eyebrows and tilts his head quizzically.

Mike closes his eyes briefly and when he opens them they're full of pain and confusion. He shrugs a little and shakes his head before stuffing his hands into the pockets of his pants.

Harvey watches as he goes over to the window and stares out of it, head nearly touching the glass window that separated him from the outside. Harvey nervously watches from his desk, certain that if the window hadn't been there he'd be watching his associate tumble out.

"Mike?"

Another sigh fills the room.

"What's wrong?"

"I've been thinking about him," Mike admits softly.

"That's understandable."

Mike shakes his head again and Harvey can see how tense he is. A frustrated growl sticks in the kid's throat.

"I keep thinking about him. I can't do anything else."

Harvey nods although with Mike's back to him he can't see the gesture. He glances at the freshly proofed file sitting on his desk and knows that the pile on Mike's own desk would already be half powered through. It doesn't surprise him that Mike would deal with a personal pressure by replacing it with another kind.

"I'd be worried if you weren't thinking about him," Harvey comments quietly and then sighs. "It's okay to-"

"Should I call him?" Mike interrupts abruptly.

"That's not my call," Harvey reminds him.

"But if it was-" Mike asks quietly again.

"But it's not."

"Hypothetically, Harvey!" Mike suddenly snaps, whirling from the window, turning anguished eyes on him. "If you were here right now, if this was happening to you, would you have called?"

Harvey stares at Mike for a few seconds before he found himself nodding.

"I'd want answers," Harvey admits quietly.

Mike shakes his head and then laughs bitterly and Harvey immediately regrets saying anything at all.

"That doesn't mean you sh..." he starts to say before Mike cuts him off.

"I should call him," Mike says, voice hushed in a mixture of honesty and bewilderment. "I need to hear it from him. Why he left me. Why he never came back to get me. Where he's been all this time."

"Okay," Harvey says, smiling reassuringly at him. He looks away only to unlock his draw and retrieve the paper with Mike's father's number on it. When he looks back up Mike is trembling and pale.

"Mike?"

Mike shakes his head and actually steps back, edging away from him.

"I thought this is what you wanted?"

"It is," Mike breathes. He wraps his arms around his body and practically folds in on himself imploring him with a soft and watery voice. "Will you call him?"

"I already told you that it's not my-"

"Please," Mike asks quietly, voice shaky and pleading. "I do want answers but I can't speak to him. Not today. Can you do it for me, Harvey," He pauses and Harvey can hear the way he sucks in the shaky breath and licks the trembling lips. "I just need some time to mentally prepare."

Harvey nods and indicates for the kid to sit while he calls. Mike sits like an obedient puppy and watches him with grateful eyes, blushing.

By the time the call was finished, Harvey was sat next to Mike with a father-son date fully planned.

"Thanks," Mike says.

"It's all set for tomorrow lunch time," Harvey tells him, pocketing his phone back in his pocket. "You can use my office."

He'd chosen the office because he had thought that it might be one of the few places he'd feel safest and most comfortable.

"I'll order in some lunch for you."

Mike nods numbly next to him.

"Can you stay?" he asks in the same shaky voice from before as though he had only just realised he might be on his own.

"Mike," Harvey sighs. "I don't think that's appropriate."

"I don't think I can do this alone, Harvey. I need you... someone -" he corrects with another blush. "Please..."

There he was again – pleading – and Harvey nods reassuringly. It actually gave him a reason to eyeball the guy and see if he was genuine.

"Sure thing, kid," Harvey tells him.

"Thanks," Mike breathes out slowly. He wipes a trembling hand down his face.

"You can make it up to me by being the best associate I've ever had."

Mike turns a bemused face towards him, dropping the hand.

"I'm the _only_ associate you've ever had," Mike says in mock hurt, recognising Harvey's attempt to make him feel more normal by resorting to their typical banter. "Besides I've already covered that. I'm already _awesome_," he lets the word fall out of him in a singy, drawn out way.

"Really?" Harvey asks in disbelief. "And yet you haven't mastered the ability to gloat."

Mike grins again before giving Harvey a nudge to his shoulder.

"Seriously, Harvey. I mean it. Thanks."

Harvey rolls his eyes and nudges the kid back with his own shoulder.

"Any time, kid. Any time."

xxx

He forgoes the intercom to talk Donna directly.

"Donna? I need you-"

"Done and done," she tells him with a flair of the hand, "Because unlike the pup I actually am awesome."

Harvey raises his eyebrows and quirks a grin at her.

"Your lunch meeting for tomorrow is re-arranged for next Tuesday," she tells him after a quick glance at the schedule planner opened in front of her. "And your 2:00 is pushed back to 3:00."

"Where would I be without you?" Harvey told her with a grin.

"Living a miserable and dark life with an inferior assistant whose sole purpose is to destroy you?" Donna asks and then raises her hand in mock shock. "Oh, wait. That's Louis. And not completely accurate. Norma's very competent."

"At destroying Louis?"

Donna shrugs and grins, "Only time will tell."

Harvey shakes his head and glances up to see Louis scurrying past Norma who appeared to be chasing him down with an irate face and waving a file frantically after him. Harvey shakes his head again and heads back through the office door.

"You're being really good with him, you know," he hears Donna say from her desk. "It's nice seeing this side of you. Different but nice."

Harvey knows that she's teasing him, but with everything that Donna does, there's also a hidden meaning because as teasing as it is, it's also the truth. He knows if he looks back all traces of jest will be gone.

"You really care about him, huh?"

He knows now that he does. In fact he probably knew that when he stepped back into Jessica's office after taking Mike to see his grandmother and winced at the similarities between the conversations that had occurred.

"Somebody has to be."

xxx


End file.
